Does anybody remember the last time an overhyped, overrated football team from Southern California with a great offense and a shoddy defense got pulverized in a championship game?  I do.  It was the Oakland Raiders against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII.  Everyone overlooked the Bucs because of Oakland's gaudy offense and flashy style of play, but Oakland looked more like the Houston Texans in the game itself, as Tampa made Rich Gannon and Co. look ridiculous.  I'm not saying that the same thing is going to happen to USC, but I am saying that they are definitely going to lose to Texas.

First of all, although some don't like to admit, there's a good reason why a one loss Oregon team didn't make the BCS.  The Pac-10 is fundamentally an overrated conference with teams that have weak defenses, and most of these teams would not win more than two conference games if they had to play in the SEC, ACC, or Big 10.  What good is 600 yards of offense and seven touchdowns if you give up 700 yards and eight touchdowns?  I'm sure Alabama would take their 6-3 regular-season victory over Tennessee any day over that.

Furthermore, there are athletes (like Vince Young and Brady Quinn) who are as good or better than the best the Pac-10 has to offer playing on better teams with better defenses against better competition.  Need we remind ourselves that the Pac-10 produces perennial NFL busts like Ryan leaf and Cade McNown because of its inflated stats and lack of defense.  I'm not saying that good players don't come out of the conference, just look at Carson Palmer.  But if you put a team like USC (or especially the average Pac-10 team) against quality teams from the other BCS conferences, the Pac-10 will almost always have a hard time winning.  Case in point: USC's game last season against Virginia Tech at the start of the season.  They very nearly lost that game, to a team that was led by Bryan Randall-a good leader, but not exactly the most skilled of quarterbacks.  This year, USC should've lost to Notre Dame, and would have if instant replay could have been used.  Pete Carroll must be the only person on earth left who doesn't see the value in getting a call right.  But I digress...

 I look forward to watching Vince Young and the Texas ground game shred the USC defense, and Young reminding everyone that the Heisman is supposed to go to the nation's most outstanding player, not the flashiest.